The Devil's Anvil Read Online Free PDF Page B

deposited her back with Billie and then staged his death on the return journey?
    Something troubled Billie more than Agent Cooper’s insistence that Richard was behind Nicola’s death. It wasn’t his suggestion that Richard might actually have survived his plunge into the torrential river. The agent was concerned that those whom Richard had stolen from might also have come to the same conclusion. The way Cooper saw things, she could be paid a visit by people who didn’t have the same hopes for her well-being as the ATF did.
    Billie dipped her hand in her coat pocket and pulled out the card Cooper had handed her.
    ‘Joe Hunter,’ she read out loud. On the reverse of the card were the handwritten name and a telephone number. Billie turned it over. As she’d expected, Agent Cooper’s details were printed on the front. He’d suggested that she contact Hunter in the event that his skills might prove helpful.
    She’d asked who Joe Hunter was. ‘Is he an ATF agent like you?’
    ‘No. He’s a private operator.’
    ‘A bodyguard?’
    ‘Among other things,’ Cooper had said. He’d glanced back at the house to where Monaghan sat in the sedan car. ‘Look. I’m going out on a limb here. I wouldn’t ordinarily hand out the details of a private operator like this, particularly when you’d expect my agency to offer you any protection necessary. But, you must understand, uh, Billie, that there are some of my colleagues who think that you are complicit in your ex-husband’s crimes and that you should be brought in for questioning.’ He’d warded off her concerned look. ‘I don’t think that, but there are some that do. Now, hopefully I’m way off mark and trouble will never come to your door, but in the event that it does, well . . .’ He’d indicated the card in her hand. ‘Call Joe Hunter.’
    ‘There’s something you’re not telling me, Agent Cooper.’
    Cooper had pursed his mouth in confusion.
    ‘You didn’t drive all the way out here on the off chance that something might happen. You expect something to happen.’
    Again Cooper glanced back at his colleague. He’d weighed the pros and cons of telling her the truth. Finally, he’d decided that forewarned was forearmed, and it was after all his purpose for driving out into the boonies. ‘I’m tasked with finding your ex-husband – if he’s still alive – and recovering the money that he stole. But it has come to my attention that I’m not the only one looking. One of the accounts that Richard tapped to the tune of almost thirty million dollars was in the name of a shell corporation belonging to some pretty dangerous individuals. We’ve started another investigation into those behind Procrylon Inc., and through our endeavours discovered that they are making enquiries of their own. An ATF agent looking into Procrylon was recently compromised, and subsequently turned up dead. We’ve no evidence to say those behind Procrylon murdered my colleague, but I’d be a fool to ignore what common sense tells me. If they’re prepared to murder a federal agent, then they won’t shy away from hurting others to get what they want. It’s why I fear that you might become a target.’
    ‘But I don’t know anything.’
    ‘I have your word on that, Billie, but that’s all they’ll have too. I’m willing to take it at face value, but they might not be as accommodating.’
    Billie snapped the card against her thigh, and then put it away in her pocket.
    Cooper was most likely scaremongering. Despite his reassurances that he believed she knew nothing about the theft or Richard’s disappearance, his words were thinly veiled. He thought that she was involved. Perhaps not willingly, but how could her Richard have conducted his criminal affairs without her at least suspecting something? Cooper intended instilling panic in her in the hope that she’d try to contact her exhusband and lead the ATF to him.
    Or was that paranoia speaking?
    What if Cooper’s